A local lawmaker is demanding action a week after the city's Board of Elections ignored a law requiring it to post notices at old poll sites when it moves them to new locations. WNYC reported the board changed hundreds of poll sites in the months before last week's primary, affecting more than 200,000 eligible voters.

City Councilman Dan Gardonick Monday sent the board a sternly worded letter, taking the agency to task for failing to comply with the law. He also called for the agency to submit a plan to his office by Sept. 29 outlining how the agency will meet its legal requirements in time for the November elections.

When it comes to following the law, Garodnick told WNYC, “it is not their prerogative to pick and choose."

He added, “That’s exactly what they are doing here, and the end result of course is that it is making life more difficult for New Yorkers when they are trying to exercise their fundamental right to vote."

Michael Ryan, the executive director of the Board of Elections, once testified at a hearing that the City Council, as a local legislative body, did not have jurisdiction over its activities, since the board is governed by state election law.

Garodnick urged the board to check out an opinion from the New York Attorney General’s office that concluded the city Board of Elections is in fact a local agency.

“The board," according to the opinion, "is comprised of local residents appointed by local elected officials, is financed by local government, and performs its functions within a local jurisdiction.”

Gardonick said the opinion makes it clear that the city elections board must be responsive to the City Council and the mayor.

A spokeswoman said the board’s position has not changed. 

9-18-17 Letter to BOENY Re Poll Site Notices by Brigid Bergin on Scribd